Shuffled and Paused
In 2008, I bought or acquired 78 albums , a number that stuns me now but at the time didn’t feel excessive in the least. Now months will go by — years, even — w...
Category: Music
Scattered Thoughts About Bro-Country
• If you want to understand America, you have to understand the South. And if you want to understand the South, you have to understand country music. • Country ...
In Constant Sorrow All Through His Days: Heartbreak, Outsiders, and American Music
I wrote about Inside Llewyn Davis, The Broken Circle Breakdown, and using folk/Americana music to process pain. In Constant Sorrow All Through His Days: Heartbr...
King of the Rain
Counting Crows’ “Rain King,” from their debut August and Everything After, goes in part: I belong in the service of the queen I belong anywher...
This music has been in my head and heart since I was 9 years old.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgazr_8x0cg
One Man’s Trash, That’s Another Man’s Come-Up
I got into alternative country in college. After growing up on mainstream country, I was still in love with the root of the sound — open and rangy, purely Ameri...
Take My Breath Away … Again
In which I take another look at cheesy soundtrack singles, those hallmarks of my youth. Click here for the piece.
Self-Selecting
There have been a few blog posts and single-serving sites going around recently designed to let you check which of your Facebook friends like certain pop cultur...
Soundtracking: “Bad Reputation,” Freedy Johnston
I’m fascinated by how it’s possible to be nostalgic for something that happened in your lifetime but that you didn’t actually experience first...
Soundtracking: “Leave the Biker,” Fountains of Wayne
[See earlier installments here and, I guess, here.] I was 14 years old in October 1996, two months into my freshman year of high school. My friends at the time ...
Soundtracking: “Buddy Holly,” Weezer
[Working from the idea that all music is an autobiographical experience, I’d like to try and write about certain songs as they pertain to my life. No tell...
City Girls
My best friend got me into The Refreshments in high school. This was right before it became impossibly easy to learn about and acquire new music, and getting a ...
Allow Me To Reintroduce Myself
I grew up listening to country and pop. For a kid in South Texas, especially one with a mother who liked country and who kept the radio locked to Y100, this was...
Needles And Grooves
Just a reminder that I’ve got a Tumblr where I upload photos of my growing record collection, which began last Christmas. Cactus Music and Half-Price Book...
It Won’t Be Long
I’m fascinated by the fact that The Beatles’ albums were often released in dramatically chopped and repackaged ways to manufacture more content in t...